Mid-Hudson operations garner 675 patents for IBM

Thursday

Jan 10, 2013 at 1:08 PMJan 10, 2013 at 1:10 PM

Jessica DiNapoli

More than 10 percent of the 6,478 U.S. patents IBM received in 2012 came from the work of inventors in Poughkeepsie and East Fishkill.The scope and subjects of the 675 patents earned by inventors in East Fishkill and Poughkeepsie generally reflect each site’s mission, said Manny Schecter, IBM’s chief patent council.Patents from East Fishkill focus on microelectronics, which includes semiconductor and chip technology. In Poughkeepsie, the patents are related to systems, technology related to large servers that help organizations manage vast amounts of data.Last year was the 20th in a row that IBM has received the most U.S. patents, according to the company. Samsung, a Korean company, and Canon, a Japanese company, followed IBM in second and third place, respectively.IBM has seen its competitors change over its 20 years topping the list. At one point, the competitors were mainly Japanese companies, plus a few American ones, Schecter said.“Now, we see a more global set, with companies from Korea and Taiwan,” he said.Inventors working for IBM outside the U.S. contributed to 30 percent of its patents approved last year, a slight increase from years past, Schecter said. The largest share of those contributions came from Germany.IBM spends about $6 billion annually on research and development. It earns about $1 billion each year from licensing or selling its intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks or the “know-how” behind them, Schecter said. “It’s a pretty healthy recovery for the R&D investment,” he said.The company’s total annual revenue is about $100 billion.The company’s 20 years at number one shows its commitment to innovation, Schecter said. IBM provides monetary rewards to its inventors.jdinapoli@th-record.com